


Scars

by orphan_account



Series: The Young Pendragon Must Live [1]
Category: Merlin - Fandom
Genre: Past Violence, Protective Arthur, hurt! Merlin
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-10
Updated: 2020-04-10
Packaged: 2021-03-01 20:15:42
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,685
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23582953
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: Arthur accidentally sees all the scars Merlin got while trying to defend him.
Series: The Young Pendragon Must Live [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1698124
Comments: 5
Kudos: 94





	Scars

“Come on Merlin it’s a perfect day for a swim!” Arthur screamed from in the water.

“I’m fine where I am, thank you sire.” Merlin sat on the grass beside the lake watching the knights and Arthur swim after a day out on patrol.

“Why not? The waters perfect,” Arthur argued.

“I just don’t want to swim right now.” Merlin layed down where he was sitting and soaked up the warm sun.

“Mer-lin come on a swim will be good for you.” Arthur was persistent, “you probably need a bath anyways.”

“No. Arthur I’m staying right here.” Merlin insisted.

“Why are you embarrassed?” Arthur teased.

“Of what?” Merlin questioned.

“You know if you're not quite as sizely as the rest of us that’s ok.” The rest of the knights started laughing.

“ARTHUR! No I’m not! I don’t! That’s not why!” Merlin stammered.

“Then why won’t you swim?” Arthur did not let up.

“I just don’t want to swim.” Merlin tried.

“I will make you,” Arthur threatened.

“Oh yeah,” Merlin teased.

“Yes I will go over there and make you,” Arthur promised.

“Ok,” Merlin challenged.

Arthur walked out of the lake and up to where Merlin was sitting. By the time Merlin registered that Arthur was not bluffing it was too late. Arthur had him pinned, “come on Merlin you're going to love the water.”

Merlin squirmed and struggled against Arthur’s hold, “Arthur! Let me go!”

Arthur didn’t let up and started dragging Merlin towards the water.

“Arthur please. I don’t want to get my clothes wet.” Merlin tried one last hope.

“Well I guess we’ll just have to fix that, won’t we?” Arthur hauled Merlin up so he could hold onto him with one hand. He then used the other to pull Merlin’s shirt off in one quick movement.

“What the hell is this!?” Arthur gestured to Merlin’s torso, which was covered in scars from neck to hip and front to back.

“It’s none of your business.” Merlin went to grab his shirt but Arthur held it out of his reach. 

“No Merlin. You are my servant and you are my responsibility. So yes it is my business and I intend to find out what happened to you.” Arthur’s voice was filled with rage.

“Arthur,” Merlin barely even whispered, “please just let it go.”

“No! Merlin I can’t just let it go,” Arthur was down right pissed, “if someone is hurting you I want to know about!”

Arthur’s shouting had gotten the attention of the knights, and thinking there might be danger, snuck on shore and put their trousers on and grabbed their swords. They came up to where Arthur and Merlin were but instantly dropped their weapons upon seeing Merlin.

Leon was the first to say something, “Merlin what happened to you?” He stepped up to Merlin and put a hand on his shoulder. He ghosted his fingers over the many scars on Merlin. There was one that looked like chains wrapped around his entire torso. There were multiple that looked like he was stabbed with blades on his front. There were arrow puncture scars over his back as well as what looked like as many as twenty lashes from a whip.

“I don’t want to talk about it,” Merlin looked at them with big pleading eyes. 

“I do,” Arthur put in, “I want to know what’s happening so I can know that you’re not going to get hurt any more, so I know that every morning you will be in my chambers and ready for the day. I need to know that I will never work when you’re injured or push you to do things that will hurt. So yes Merlin we are going to talk about this weather or not you want to.”

Arthur went to grab his trousers and slip them one before he came back and sat on the grass. He gestured for Merlin to come sit next to him. All of the knights sat in a circle and waited for their friend to sit down.

After a reluctant pause Merlin sat down, but didn’t say anything. They all sat in silence and looked at Merlin wondering what secrets he had hidden from them for so god knows how long.

“Merlin please say something,” it was Percival who spoke this time.

“I’m sorry but I don’t know what to say,” Merlin’s voice was still barely a whisper.

“Just tell us the truth,” the anger that was in Arthur’s voice was replaced with something, something sadder, “why don’t you start by telling us what they were from?”

“Well they’re from many different occasions. This one,” he points to the chain imprint, “is from when someone chained me and left me out in the open during a heat wave and the heat made the chains hot enough to scorch.”

Gasps came from the multiple knights and faces spread either horror or rage or pity.

“And these two.” He pointed to two symmetrical stab wounds right below his ribs, “were from a blade thrower. He had enough talent to get them almost exactly symmetrical.”

“How the hell did you get in a situation where you can get hit by blades from a blade thrower?” Arthur tried.

Merlin ignored Arthur and went on, “the lashes on my back are from when I was kidnapped and used as a slave for a couple days.”

All of the knights were crying, rivers of tears running down their faces, “the rest are all spare injuries from the same old being struck with a blade in a fight or getting shot with an arrow while running away.” 

Merlin looked at all of his friends who all looked sad, except for Gwaine and Arthur. Those two looked ready to murder someone.

“And what happened to all the people who did this to you?” Gwaine asked.

“I don’t know what happened to most of them,” Merlin explained.

“How can you just move on so easily, without knowing what happened to them?” Gwaine didn’t understand how Merlin wasn’t paranoid.

“Look these things all happened because they need to,” strange looks fell upon everyone, “sometimes when you need something to happen you have to go through things like this. So no, I don’t care about those people. I got what I needed and that was just the price.”

“No one should ever have to do that,” Arthur stated, “no matter what it gets them.”

“Don’t worry it was worth it,” Merlin assured them, “I don’t think I could’ve lived if those situations went the other way.”

“And what were those situations?” Arthur asked.

“I’m sorry sire but I can’t tell you,” Merlin looked at the ground.

“What do you mean you can’t tell me?” Arthur studied his friend, “we’ve never lied to each other or kept secrets so why can’t you tell me?”

“Please Arthur just trust me.” Merlin begged.

“Why? You don’t trust me.” Arthur spit out bitterly.

“What? Arthur I trust you over any other person.” Merlin pleads.

“No you don’t otherwise you would’ve told me about this,” Arthur shoots, “and you would’ve also told me about other things too. You’ve also been hiding other things from me.”

“Like what?” Merlin challenged.

“You haven’t told me about your magic. You haven’t told me about how often you save me, save my knights, save Camelot.” Arthur felt like the weight of the world was just lifted from his shoulders.

Merlin scrambled back a few paces with a look of horror on his face, “how long have you known?”

“Since the beginning.” Arthur admitted, “I saw you use magic to make the candelabra fall onto that witch that was trying to kill me.”

“Why didn’t you say anything.” Merlin demanded.

“I didn’t really know how to bring it and I wanted to wait until you told me on your own.” Arthur explained, “and there was also the small issue of my father.”

There was a moment of silence before Merlin decided to say something, “I’m sorry Arthur, truly, I never wanted to lie but you were Uther’s son and I couldn’t be sure of how it would go.”

“It’s alright Merlin I understand,” Arthur moved over and rested a hand on Merlin’s shoulder, “but I still need to know what’s going on so I can trust that that it’s a good thing.”

Merlin closed his eyes and took a deep breath, “there are lots of people in the world who believe that you're not worthy of the place you have been given, and they try to set the world how they want it. I couldn’t let them.” It all came out as barely a whisper.

Arthur’s hand fell from Merlin’s shoulder as tears fell down his face, “you did it all for me?”

“Yes.” The other knights were all sitting in awe, “and I would do it again every day if it keeps you safe.”

“Merlin you are the most loyal, most brave man I have ever met. You shouldn’t be doing that for me. I never ever want to be the reason that causes you harm. Do you hear I never want to see you hurt for me again.” Arthur was all but sobbing as he said this.

“Arthur I need to keep you safe-” Merlin tried saying.

“No Merlin, you need to be safe with me. You need to stop this, stop letting yourself get hurt before it goes too far one day. I couldn’t live if you left me Merlin.”

“Arthur I can’t just stop preventing attacks on Camelot and let them happen.” Merlin argued.

“They’re not going to happen but we are going to find a way that doesn’t involve you getting hurt.” Arthur insisted.

“Ok as long as nothing will happen to any of you.” Merlin looked at everyone around him knowing that he could never let any of them be harmed.

“Nothing is going to happen to anyone Merlin. We are all going to be just fine,” Arthur promised, “now I do believe there is a fine lake down there and I want to have a good swim before we have to go face the world.”


End file.
